USC Football Player Charged With Rape Makes Plea Deal
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A suspended USC football player has taken a plea deal to stay out of prison after being charged with rape and sodomy in Utah.
Osa Masina pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges of sexual battery. He faces up to three years in county jail and probation in the deal, but the deal keeps him out of state prison. Masina will also not be listed as a sex offender.
Masina's attorney says it will give his client a chance to move on, but the accuser's lawyer says the deal is grossly disproportionate for what she said was a violent sex assault.
Masina and another teammate, Don Hill, were accused of raping a 19-year-old classmate at Hill's off-campus apartment in July of 2016 after giving her marijuana, Xanax, and alcohol. Court documents also said Masina assaulted the same woman again at his home state of Utah almost two weeks later.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles declined to charge either Hill or Masina due to insufficient evidence.